Canadian TV: money grab

It seems that the Canadian TV industry is nothing but a big money grab.

First, Canada's broadcast networks went before the industry's regulator, the CRTC, to demand fees from cable companies for carriage, which was a truly moronic idea.

Now, it's the CRTC that wants to draw blood:

Canadian broadcasters are taking a multi-million-dollar battle over regulatory fees to the Supreme Court of Canada, extending a five-year fight over payments they say amount to an "illegal tax."

The fees of more than $100-million a year "are over and above payments made to the CRTC to defray the cost of the regulation and supervision of the industry," the Canadian Association of Broadcasters said in a statement yesterday.

Again, utter nonsense.

Then, Shaw Cable made headlines by, yet again, flouting rules and aggravating customers:

A battle of rhetoric in Ottawa over what Canadians should be able to watch on television became a battle of action fought in the country's living rooms Wednesday as satellite TV provider Star Choice suddenly yanked five local TV stations off the air in markets across the country.

Star Choice customers were informed Wednesday that their channel lineup would be "simplified" by the removal of CBC in Regina, CTV in Calgary, Global in the Maritimes, Citytv in Winnipeg, and SunTV, a Toronto station owned by Quebecor Inc.

But there's some good news, too, for a change: Shaw Cable has finally decided to obey the law and carry the new Alberta-based Super Channel: As of now, SC1-4 can be found on Shaw Cable (Calgary) on channels 161-164.